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When the Cat in the Copycat Was a Dog

Artist (American, born 1930)
CultureAmerican
Date2016
MediumBroken and glazed porcelain tiles; picture mounted on foam core
DimensionsOverall (each): 29.3 × 28.5 cm (11 9/16 × 11 1/4 in.)
MarkingsSigned Jim Melchert
DescriptionThe work consists of four industrially produced ceramic tiles and one photograph. Since the early 1990s, the artist has worked principally with pre-fabricated tile, generally breaking it and adding glaze in response. Melchert, having been a prominent figure in the Bay Area conceptual art world, has long employed chance operations and rule-based systems in his work. In this piece, the abstract pattern of breakages and glaze derive from the photo included with the work.
Credit LineGift of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York; Hassam, Speicher, Betts and Symons Fund, 2018 Photographer credit: Renée Melchert Thorpe
Object numberG18.4.1a-e
Classifications
Modern and Contemporary Ceramics
Sub-classification
American
Status
Not on view
When the Cat in the Copycat Was a Dog
Artist / Maker: Jim Melchert
2016
Object number: G19.8.1a-d
Photographer: Toni Hafkenscheid
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Object number: G18.3.1
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Object number: G12.21.1.1-3
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c. 1990
Object number: G18.8.1
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